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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 |

Just yesterday, Fisker sold the first example of its Karma extended-range hybrid sedan after receiving the necessary EPA certification - though the mpg numbers weren't exactly what the company hoped for…Despite the delay, Henrik Fisker, CEO and co-founder of the company, insists that the Karma will reach its sales target for 2011, which is a rather optimistic 7,000 units.
“Analysts have to look at it from a different perspective”, he said, dismissing reports that the Karma did not delivered what it promised. “We’ve already defied the analysts a couple of times. We’ve made it. We’re delivering cars.”
However, the not-so-good karma (pun intended) that made Fisker delay the timeline set for the sedan and miss the original targets seems to be affecting its second model line as well.
Fisker has already signed a deal with BMW to get the German firm's new 2.0-liter supercharged TwinPower engines for Project Nina, which is a smaller hybrid sedan. However, the timeline of its launch has already been pushed back a year, from 2012 to mid-2013.
Whereas Valmet in Finland builds the Karma, the Nina will be manufactured in Delaware, USA. And while Fisker currently employs just 120 people, its new ex-GM in Delaware facility will have some 2,500 workers.
The reason is that the Nina will have a much higher production volume of 100,000 cars per year. Whether this is a realistic target remains to be seen. So far, Henrik Fisker has brought his first high-profile hybrid to the market and has begun filling the 3,000 orders the company says it has for the Karma.
Story Sources: Delaware Online

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011 |

Even though Fisker delivered the first examples of its new Karma sedan last month, these were used purely as demo vehicles since Fisker’s extended-range plug-in hybrid hadn’t received the required Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification.
With this final hurdle now behind, Fiskerannounced today that it sold its first $97,000 Karma. “With receipt of EPA certification in hand, we have achieved a major milestone by recording the first sales of our groundbreaking Karma sedan”, said an exuberant Henrik Fisker who is the CEO and founder of the company.
According to EPA’s tests, the Karma has an all-electric range of 32 miles and a combined average fuel consumption of 52 MPGe (4.5 lt/100 km). That’s almost half the 100 MPGe (2.3 lt/100 km) consumption promised when the project was announced, but still commendable for a large luxury sedan with an extended-range powertrain.
However, ConsumerReports said that once the 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine kicks in to provide power, the Karma is rated at just 20mpg.
Fisker says that, starting with a full battery charge, which takes less than six hours using a 240V outlet, the Karma would use only 9 gallons of gasoline per month and visit the gas station every 1,000 miles to top up its range-extending 2.0-liter gasoline engine if its driver made a daily commute of 40 miles on average.
After the announcement, the company’s CEO also stated: “Production is ramping and we have a strong dealer network in place so we can deliver many of these truly amazing automobiles to customers during the remainder of 2011 and for many years to come.”

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